People all over the world eat rice．Millions of people in Asia，Africa and South America eat it every day of their lives．（3）Some people eat almost nothing but rice．
Rice is a kind of grass．There are more than 7,000 kinds of rice．Farmers grow rice in many countries，even in the southern part of the United States and in eastern Australia．
No one really knows where rice came from．Some scientists think that it started to grow in two places．They think that one kind of rice grew in Southern Asia thousands of years ago．（4）Someone in china wrote about it almost 5,000 years ago．Another kind probably grew in West Africa．Other scientists think that rice came from India，and Indian travelers took it to other parts of the world．
There are two main ways to grow rice．Most rice grows in wet soil（土壤）．People in many countries do all of the work of growing rice by hand．This is the same way farmers worked hundreds of years ago．In some countries，people now use machines（机器）on their rice farms．
People use every part of the rice plant（种植）．They make animal food and rice oil from it．They also make baskets，brooms and roofs for their houses．They burn dry rice plants for cooking．
（一）根据短文内容，简要回答问题。
1．Where do scientists think rice came from?
2．What do you think is the best way to grow rice? Why?
（二）将短文中划线的句子译成汉语。
3．_________________________________________________
4．_________________________________________________
（三）给短文拟一个适当的标题。
5．_____________________________
1．Southern Asia and West Africa．
2．Using machines is the best way．Because farmers may work faster and easier．
3．有些人不吃其他食物，只吃大米。
4．在中国，5000多年以前就有关于水稻的记载了。
5．Rice